Military officials decline to say whether orb spotted over Kauai was Chinese spy balloon

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Pentagon has confirmed a spy balloon shot down off the South Carolina coast over the weekend was part of large surveillance operation that China has been conducting for years.

Military officials are declining to release details about previous balloons.

However, some are speculating an incident off Kauai last year may be related.

Pentagon: China’s conducted spy balloon program for years

In that case, a large white orb spooked residents and prompted military aircraft to scramble to check out the device.

Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara, the adjutant general in Hawaii, tweeted about the incident. He said U.S. Indo-Pacific Command “detected a high-altitude object floating in air in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands” and sent up aircraft to intercept it. He said they visually confirmed it was an unmanned balloon with no identification markings.

Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, declined to say if the incident was linked to the Chinese program.